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22 Jun 2015

President Buhari to remove fuel subsidy

President Muhammadu Buhari plans to totally remove fuel subsidy and use the proceeds for the provision of free and compulsory primary/secondary education across the country.

The administration is also said to be working on unbundling the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to make it more efficient in the production and delivery of products to Nigerians.

These proposals form part of the strong recommendations made by the transition committee raised by Buhari to work out a blueprint for his administration.

Asked if the proposal for total subsidy removal had been discussed with labour, the source said that members of organized labour in the country were consulted by the committee and they made presentations on what should be done over the matter.

The source said: “ Labour is part of the decision; they have accepted the proposal of fuel subsidy removal. “A committee is likely to be set up by the federal government to work out the modalities of what is to be done in that respect. “But the truth is that total removal of fuel subsidy has been recommended with adequate provisions for palliatives on free education and social welfare for the unemployed”, a member of the transition committee said.

The source pointed out that unlike in the past, the Buhari administration is considering the provision of free meals for students to serve as incentives for them to enroll in school.

The source explained that the committee also recommended the unbundling of NNPC to reposition the agency to serve the needs of Nigerians better.

According to him, all refineries in Nigeria are to be made to work at maximum capacity by the federal government to be able to deliver adequate products to the consumers.

He said that the era of allocating more crude than any refinery in Nigeria can process was over, as it was discovered that the policy encouraged corruption and diversion of funds.

In a tone that suggested that the Buhari administration might probe the operations of the NNPC, the committee member further disclosed that the federal government was set to block all channels of fund leakages in the corporation.

He said: “The federal government is keen on plugging all areas of leakages in the corporation and whoever must have caused them must be made to account for such unpatriotic wastages. We don’t know whether that is what you call probe or not”, he said.